Protecting political status quo and making money matter most to FPA/FSNE

The Libertarian Chicks reacted to Wyllie's exclusion from this Thursday's FPA/FSNE Gubernatorial Forum with this biting meme and a stinging letter.

Libertarian Chicks

On the afternoon of Saturday, July 5, two of Florida's biggest mainstream media organizations, the Florida Press Association (FPA) and the Florida Society of News Editors (FSNE) finally admitted, albeit inadvertently, the real reasons why they chose not to invite Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Adrian Wyllie to actively participate in the FPA and FSNE Gubernatorial Forum, which will be held this coming Thursday evening, July 10, at the Biltmore in Coral Gables, Fla.

Even though the Adrian Wyllie for Governor Campaign is drawing 15 percent or more of the support in recent political polling across the state of Florida (see this link), the FPA and FSNE denied his active inclusion in the forum for failing to meet either one of the requirements in Provision D necessary for active participation in the forum. Provision D requires his political party, the Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF) to represent at least five percent of the electorate in Florida, or for Wyllie supporters to have met $250,000 in campaign contributions. While Wyllie easily met Provisions A, B, C, E, and F, he and his campaign fell short on Provision D.

Through these actions, the FPA's and FSNE's have revealed their two main objectives in Florida's political system: Prolonging and protecting the political status quo that so many Floridians and Americans are striving to change; and ensuring that only candidates buying airtime or advertising through traditional mainstream media sources, or "paying their way" into the political process, are allowed anything more than minimal exposure during election cycles. Please click here to see a list of the six provisions set for this Thursday's FPA/FSNE Gubernatorial Forum.

Wyllie and campaign volunteers respond to his exclusion from the debate

After receiving notice of his exclusion from active participation in next Thursday's gubernatorial forum, Wyllie issued his statement to the FPA/FSNE regarding his disgust with the dishonesty, corruption, and unethical behavior leading to his exclusion from the debate. Please click on this link to read Wyllie's release to the FPA and FSNE.

In addition to Wyllie's statement, the Libertarian Chicks issued their own biting tongue-in-cheek criticism of the news organization's decision to deny Wyllie a chance to speak to the attendees at the forum. The group compared the actions of the FPA and FSNE to the treatment Libertarian Senate Candidate Robert Sarvis has received from the mainstream media this election cycle in Virginia (which differs little from Sarvis' run for governor last fall). Please click on this link to read the Libertarian Chicks letter to the FPA and FSNE.

Why Wyllie failed to reach the criteria for Provision D

As mentioned earlier, Provision D requires the candidate to either represent at least five percent of the electorate in the state of Florida, or raise $250,000 in campaign contributions. First of all, while the Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF) is the fastest growing and third-largest active political party in the state, the LPF has yet to secure five percent of the voter registration threshold in the Sunshine State.

Secondly, since the Wyllie for Governor Campaign has chosen a "grassroots" approach, working with a group of dedicated volunteers in an effort to actually meet and greet all of Florida's voters in this November's Gubernatorial Election, the campaign has relied on the work of people who are doing it for the cause of increasing everyone's freedom and liberty, and reducing the size of the government – not for the money.

Actually, several political and special interest "power players" had offered large monetary donations to the campaign, on the condition that Wyllie would compromise his stance on one or more issues in return. However, the Libertarian Candidate has repeatedly stood firm on his commitment to putting people and principle over partisan and petty politics, and the wants of special interest groups – therefore rejecting the large donations from those willing to help in his election bid in exchange for a "few favors". For these reasons, Wyllie has yet to reach $250,000 in campaign contributions.

The FPA and FSNE clearly placed Provision D in its platform for two reasons, both of which are to the detriment of a large majority of Floridians. The first part is put in place to prevent any challenges from parties, other than the established Democrats and Republicans, with which the mainstream media has developed a long-term amicable relationship. Therefore, the implementation of Provision D prolongs and protects the political status quo the large majority of Americans see as corrupted and in need of change.

Also, by confirming that money matters more to the traditional news organizations than transparency, objectivity, and fairness to their fellow Floridians in the political process, the profits received from the establishment parties encourage the mainstream media to black out any opposing minor party or non-party affiliated candidates, especially in the week leading up to Election Day to avoid taking the spotlight off of the "big spender" candidates.

Changes are beginning to appear on the political horizon

The Democrats and Republicans are rapidly losing members. However, the process of catching up with the two corrupted establishment parties will still take time and effort from everyone who truly wants to change Florida's and America's political stagnation back into a government that truly respects the Constitution. For more information on the shrinking size of the Democratic and Republican Parties in Florida, click on this link. For more information on the Libertarian Party of Florida, please visit the party's website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

Unethical actions further undermine mainstream media credibility

Amid all of these unethical actions, the mainstream media still laments, complains, and wonders why its credibility has dropped below 20 percent, and continues to fall. A fellow Wyllie for Governor Supporter made an important point Saturday afternoon: "When their audience gets so small that the businesses advertising in their time slots can no longer generate enough revenue to justify buying the ads, then these news outlets may finally get the message."

How supporters can donate time, money, and effort to get Wyllie elected

While Adrian Wyllie might lose this battle, the war is far from lost. However, the Wyllie for Governor Campaign desperately needs individuals who are willing to donate their time, money, and effort to help Wyllie get elected. Wyllie is the only gubernatorial candidate in the race truly committed to the people of Florida, dedicated to restoring state sovereignty, civil liberties, personal freedoms, reducing taxation, and shrinking the size of government. To get involved with the Wyllie for Governor Campaign, please visit his campaign website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

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Brought up among family members with strong political opinions, Brian C. Cole soon arrived at this disheartening conclusion: Neither of the two major political parties represented his personal ideologies. In the 1990s, Brian discovered the Libertarian Party and its commitment to free markets, free trade, social tolerance and non-intervention abroad. Currently, Brian serves as the Region 8 Representative to the Libertarian Party of Florida for Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties. He also works as the Chairman for the Libertarian Party of Hillsborough County.